Yankee Stadium is shown as rain falls on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in New York. The New York Yankees will face the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game on Friday. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger) (Adam Hunger, AP)
Only Mother Nature could slow down Aaron Judge.
The slugger’s pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League home run record was put on pause Tuesday as the rain socking the Northeast caused the Yankees to postpone their game against the Minnesota Twins at the Stadium.
Judge, who already has a career-best 54 homers as he tries to chase down Maris’ 61 in ‘61, will have to wait until Wednesday afternoon to try and prolong his home run streak, which currently sits at three straight games.
The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader, set to begin at 3:05 p.m.
Tickets to Wednesday night’s originally scheduled game will be valid for the doubleheader. Fans with tickets for Tuesday’s game may exchange them for another regular season game.
Gerrit Cole was originally scheduled to take the mound against the Twins’ Joe Ryan Tuesday night, but will now pitch the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters. Domingo German will pitch the opener.
Cole’s last outing saw the Yankees ace give up a 3-run homer to Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani in a 3-2 loss to the Angels as part of an ugly road trip for the Bombers.
Twins rookie pitcher Louie Varland is expected to make his pro debut against the Bombers Wednesday night after being called up from the minor leagues. He’s the Twins reigning minor league pitcher of the year and has recorded 298 strikeouts in 238 innings during his time there.
The Yankees hope to continue their dominance against the Twins at home as the Bronx Bombers are 51-13 at Yankee Stadium against them since 2002.
The Bombers need every win they can get to help erase the damage done after a miserable August. The Yankees, who once had a 15.5 game lead in the division, are currently five games ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East race coming into Tuesday.
Yankee Stadium gates will open at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The second game will start no later than 7:05 p.m.
Rizzo going on IL
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Anthony Rizzo will be placed on the 10-day IL. Boone said the first baseman is dealing with headaches and is under doctor’s orders to get some rest.
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Originally published at Tribune News Service